Anuj Shrivatri becomes India's 100th chess grandmaster

IM Anuj Shrivatri became India’s 100th chess grandmaster on Sunday by winning the 7th ASEAN Plus Individual Open Chess Championship. The 22-year-old secured the result that delivered the Grandmaster title for the country.

Shrivatri, who was born on July 21, 2004, is the first player from Madhya Pradesh to reach the Grandmaster rank. The article notes he has shown consistent form in rapid and blitz events this year, which it credits with helping his development. He entered the tournament holding the International Master title.

His campaign began with an opening-round defeat to the Philippines’ Arca Christian Gian Karlo; Arca finished 32nd in the standings. Shrivatri also met fellow Indians Viani Antonio Dcunha and Audi Ameya during the event. Despite the early loss, he recovered to produce the sequence of results that won the event.

According to the report, Shrivatri eventually scored 7/8 points to win the championship. In the final rankings after nine rounds, Anuj finished on top with 7 points, while Vietnam’s Nguyen Duc Hoa and the Philippines’ Nouri Alekhine placed second and third with 6.5 and 6 points respectively. India’s Viani Antonio Dcunha was fourth overall.

The tournament field included several titled players: Vietnam’s Nguyen Duc Hoa (2nd), Mongolia’s Sharavdorj Dashzegve (11th), and the Philippines’ Laylo Darwin (18th) and Quizon Daniel (22nd) all participated. The report lists those finishing positions for the named grandmasters. Other competitors filled out the remainder of the standings.

Khel Now states that by winning the 7th ASEAN Plus Individual Open, the 22-year-old earned his final norms and attained the Grandmaster title. The piece repeats that Shrivatri is Madhya Pradesh’s first-ever chess Grandmaster and that he achieved the milestone as India’s 100th Grandmaster.

With Shrivatri’s elevation, India has become only the fourth nation in chess history to have 100 grandmasters; the other three are Russia, Germany, and the United States of America. The report adds that Russia has more than 250 chess grandmasters and is the only country to have reached the 200 milestone.